


A Conversation In The Dark

by goblinkore



Category: Hello From The Hallowoods (Podcast)
Genre: Idiots in Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:40:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29265918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goblinkore/pseuds/goblinkore
Summary: Diggory and Percy talk after the events of Episode 14.
Relationships: Percy Reed/Diggory Graves
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	A Conversation In The Dark

The Scoutpost wasn’t even quiet at night. The noise of all that life that filled the halls had been something that Diggory had needed to adjust to for the first few days, lying awake in their cot as the world outside of that door bustled to and fro.

It wasn’t that anyone out there was loud, they were far from it, being respectful of everyone else’s need for sleep, but for all of the life that Diggory had since they’d woken up on that cold table, the only noises that had followed them was the whispering of the wind through the trees, and later the voice of the young man that followed them. The soft footsteps outside of their door made them feel like their own steps were too heavy, not quite being able to match the fleet footedness of each of the Scoutpost residents. They seemed to walk so quietly that the only noise came from the soft scrape of the materials on their feet meeting the floor.

Sometimes there were voices, soft chatter as the night watch would keep themselves entertained while drinking something that reminded them of coffee. Diggory had a vague memory of coffee, it had been a thick black sludge when they’d drunk it before. It didn’t appeal to them anymore, but the idea of having a reason, something that the other members of the Scoutpost, would recognise, for staying awake as long as they did. They all thought that Diggory slept the nights away, the same as they did, but that wasn’t true.

Inside their room, though, was as silent as the grave. They lay still, letting the noises around them fill the space that they left. Percy was silent too, letting himself fade out of sight and back in as natural as breathing. Diggory had never considered if Percy missed it, breathing. Diggory wasn’t sure if they missed it, not really remembering what it was to begin with. Percy though, understood more of what he was missing now he was dead, or something close to it.

“Do you want to… do something?” Diggory asked the room. They didn’t turn to Percy to ask, but wanted to push the words into the world and wait for a response, if one would come. Percy was different in the dark, not much, but enough. He was usually quiet, often fading from sight around the people of the Scoutpost, but at night he seemed sad… More sad than usual, anyway.

There was a sigh, or what sounded like one, before Percy responded, “What is there to do here, Diggory?”

“We could go for a walk?” Diggory offered, “Just get out of the room for a while.”

Percy nodded, a slow bob of his head, “Sure.”

Diggory pulled themself upright and stretched. The movement was comforting, even if it didn’t do anything for them. They’d been watching the way that the people at the Scoutpost moved, the way that they seemed to be constantly shifting or fidgeting. It was something that they didn’t do, something Percy didn’t do, it seemed to be something that was lost in death. Diggory had begun mimicking it to make the residents more comfortable with their presence, but the more that they’d done it, the worse that look on Percy’s face was.

The pair slipped out of their room, Percy floating a few of inches off of the ground to be around the same height as Diggory. Diggory liked that Percy did that, it made them feel less like their size was an issue. They left the building as quickly as they could, Percy following Diggory through hallways and passages they seemed to already know like the back of their hand.

Percy could easily have passed through the physical walls and doors out to the Hallowoods, but chose to stay close and watch as Diggory moved. Something about the way that they controlled their body now was different. It had been since they’d arrived here, something was changing in them. That scared Percy, what if the changes made them realise that having only a ghost to rely on was not ideal for anyone, let alone someone who had such a strong drive to follow. Percy couldn’t protect Diggory the same way that these living people could, couldn’t throw his body in between Diggory and a bullet… Although, judging by the reaction they’d gotten on arrival, it was unlikely any of these living people would either.

“What are you thinking about?” Percy asked as they left the exit of the Scoutpost and stepped into the cold night air, at least Percy assumed the air would be cold at this time of night, “You’ve got your thinking face on.”

“My… thinking face?” Diggory frowned, drawing their eyebrows together and looking at the ghost curiously. 

Percy nodded, “You have a face for thinking. I like it, it makes you look like you’re deep in thought.”

Diggory chuckled, the noise reverberating in their chest, “I’m thinking about you, actually.”

Percy’s glow flickered for a second, “What?”

“I think about you a lot.”

Percy stopped, “You… do?”

“I do.” Diggory nodded, turning to face Percy, “I rarely stop.”

Percy’s glow flickered again, “What- Uh, what do you think about?”

It was Diggory’s turn to be flustered, “I think about you being happy with me one day… Maybe, sometimes, us being happy together. Living in a place of our own. Away from the living people here, and safe.” Diggory looked down at their hands, the claws a reminder of what they were, “I think sometimes of being able to hold you in my arms.”

Percy’s glow faltered, this time going dark almost entirely. Only his eyes remained bright. “You do?”

Diggory nodded, “Of course. I love you.”

The ghost boy moved forward, almost taking a step in the air out of habit, and reached out a hand. He rested it against the skin of the creature in front of him, neither of them able to feel it but the knowledge that it was there was enough for both of them in that moment. “I love you too.”

Diggory laughed, the growl in their chest turning into a choked cough as their throat closed up. Diggory swallowed, another unnecessary movement of their body, but one that gave them a reason to pause before responding. “I worry you don’t think I’m… Right, for you.”

Percy shook his head, the black ichor gathering in his eyes. “I’m scared that you want to be like them,” he cast an arm out in gesture to the Scoutpost, “And that you could be, someday. I’m going to be like this forever. I can’t _hold_ you, Diggory.”

Droplets of black oozed from Percy’s eyes, staining his cheeks. Diggory wanted, desperately, to wipe them away and hold the boy to their chest. As Percy cried, he sank to the floor, showing the true height difference between the pair. Diggory felt awful, their chest felt like someone had wrapped a fist around their heart and was squeezing, and now as Percy looked so small compared to them, the feeling only got worse.

“I don’t need you to hold me,” Diggory mumbled, “I just want to know you love me, too. I don’t want to live with these living people if you don’t want to, and if I could be like them, I wouldn’t do it without you.”

Percy looked up at them, wiping his face with his sleeve, “Really?”

“No way,” Diggory smiled, “I would rather have you than anything else in the world.”

Percy laughed, a hiccup cutting him off halfway through, “You mean it?” He sniffed, swallowing back the rest of the tears that threatened to fall down his angelic face.

“I mean it,” Diggory nodded, “Plus these guys smell funny.”

Percy laughed, a loud noise this time, ripped from him by surprise.

A light turned on at one of the windows of the Scoutpost and the pair realised how close they still were to the Scoutpost, about half way from the walls to the trees. Diggory looked at the walls and at the trees. A spark of something lit up their face and Percy felt a burst of energy overtake him.

“I’ll race you.” The ghost boy laughed and sped past Diggory towards the trees.

Diggory swung their body around and chased him, feeling that laughter bubbling up inside them as well. The pair of them dove into the trees at the same time, letting the darkness pour over them.

Percy disappeared behind a tree and Diggory was hit with the sudden realisation that Percy was a kid, not in the way that they were with the lack of memories, but that he must have died young to look like that. Maybe, somewhere, buried under the sadness in his heart, was a kid that Diggory could bring out in him.

“Hide and seek.” Diggory announced, “I’ll count to ten first.”

“You’ll never catch me,” Percy’s disembodied voice sounded from right next to Diggory’s ear, “You can’t see me.”

Diggory laughed, “Fine! What should we do then?”

“I never said I didn’t want to play.” Percy laughed, a sound like a ringing bell. Diggory’s chest felt lighter than it had in the entire time they could remember, and they found that joy reflected back from the faint glow that was fading into the trees.

Diggory covered their eyes with their hands and counted backwards from ten, hearing the laughter echoing from the trees they turned their back to. As they reached one, they dropped their hands from their face and opened their eyes.

Percy was in front of them, glowing brighter than Diggory had seen him ever do before. He had a pure, unbroken smile on his face. He leaned forwards and placed a delicate kiss on Diggory’s cheek. Diggory didn’t feel it, but the act alone was enough to overwhelm them with emotions.

“I found you.” Percy whispered in a sing-song voice, “And you found me.”

“Can I keep you?”

“As long as you want to,” Percy nodded.

Diggory held out their hand and Percy lined his fingers up in the gaps. “So that’s forever, then?”

“That’s forever.” Percy looked up at Diggory, standing at his natural height now, “And ever.”

“Not sure that’s long enough.” Diggory said, squeezing the air that Percy’s hand sat in.

Percy squeezed back, “I don’t think it’ll ever be long enough.”

“Maybe not, but we should spend as much of it together as we can.” Diggory said, “We don’t have to go back, you know, to the Scoutpost.”

Percy sighed, deflating a little as he looked up at Diggory, “We don’t know why you were called here, so we should stay until that changes.”

Diggory nodded, “OK, but we don’t have to go back tonight.”

Percy smiled, “Tonight you’re all mine.”

“Yep!” Diggory nodded, “All yours.”

The pair watched each other’s faces in the darkness, the glow from the ghost boy reflecting from the creature’s pale skin. The light dancing across Diggory’s features looked like moonlight, but what Diggory saw as they gazed at Percy was pure sunlight.


End file.
